Blood and Rage
by necroMatador
Summary: Takes place after episode 13, 'Homecoming'. The crew of the Interceptor are sent to investigate a supposedly uninhabited planet for the source of a anomalous scan reading. Instead they find themselves facing crash-landings, capture, and a mystery ability that their resident Red Lantern has never before demonstrated. Rating for blood and mild violence in final chapter.
1. Chapter 1

It had been approximately a month since the rather unorthodox and informal end to the Red Lantern attack and invasion. Oa had, for the most part, settled back to its normal rhythm. Only now there was one more beat in said rhythm, a constant coming and going of supply and personnel ships ferrying back and forth from the Forgotten Zone. One such ship had docked only a few days ago, one familiar to the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, Hal Jordan, as were its occupants. When he had arrived back on Oa after a much-deserved break and several dinners with Carol, funded by him, to make up for…well…everything, he had been summoned to the hangar bay of the Interceptor. Surprised enough, Hal found not only Kilowog and Aya waiting there, but also a very tired looking Razer.

"Jordan!" Kilowog called, "Welcome back! Surprised to see you alive. Thought that Carol of yours would have skinned you or something for that little 9-month disappearance."

"Yeah, well, let me just say my bank account is still hurting from having to make up for it in dinners." Hal said, and then turned to their Red Lantern companion. "What's got you so exhausted?" Razer turned a half-hearted glare towards the human Lantern, but almost all of its impact was cut by the yawn that almost immediately followed.

"Guardian Appa Ali Apsa has…requested that the Interceptor act as his personal ship for trips back and forth to the Forgotten Zone." Aya answered in his stead, "Naturally, Zilius Zox insisted the same luxury be afforded to him. And Razer-"

"Razer," the Red Lantern cut in, "was somehow convinced to act as a 'goodwill envoy' along with them, and has had to deal with both of them for almost a month now." Hal winced. Interacting with Appa for anything longer than a few minutes was enough to wear on him, but the Guardian combined with the hot-air-filled beach-ball that was Zilius Zox? Too draining to even consider.

"You sure you aren't a Green Lantern?" Hal asked, and when the other three gave him questioning looks he continued, "Dealing with Appa and Zox for that long? Must take more willpower, I think, than most Green Lanterns I know have."

"Wrong kind of willpower," Kilowog added, an amused grin on his face, "But yeah, I agree with you on that."

"Actually, correct type of willpower or not, you would be impressed with the amount of willpower Razer demonstrated by restraining himself when Guardian Appa Ali Apsa referred to myself as 'a mere nav-computer'." Aya piped in. there was a short, loud bark of laughter from Hal before he stifled himself.

"That's actually an impressive feat." Hal said, but any further comment was cut off as the doors to the hangar bay slid open and several Guardians entered, followed by Green Lantern Salaak. A familiar and generally bad-tempered Guardian floated forward: Appa Ali Apsa.

"Now, I _hate_to send you all out so soon after all of your recent heroics," said the Guardian, not sounding even the slightest bit like he meant it.

"Uh-huh," Hal Jordan muttered, not sounding even the slightest bit like he bought it. Next to him, Razer rolled his eyes dramatically.

"But," Appa continued, ignoring the reactions, "seeing as the near entirety of the Green Lantern Corps are all either still returning from off-planet, or are preoccupied with other work, this task falls to you thr-" He noted a pointed glare from the three male figures standing before him that Hal could only imagine was like Razer's reaction from the aforementioned 'computer' incident in triplicate. "Ah…four."

"So what's the mission?" Hal said. Appa turned his head and Salaak stepped forward. Using his ring, the four-armed Lantern projected a star-map. the Maelstrom asteroid belt, with its newly punctured gap visible in the distance, loomed not far from a small planet.

"This," Salaak began, "is Border Planet 1546-S-1. It is small, and uninhabited, and like all planets and stars bordering the Maelstrom, we have it under constant surveillance. Recently, however, we have noticed some strange scan readings which we are unable to identify or analyze."

"Your assignment," Appa concluded, "is to take the Interceptor, go to Border Planet 1546-S-1, investigate this anomalous reading, and report back with your findings. Red Lantern Razer is to accompany you in the likely case that this reading has something to do with rogue Red Lantern forces." With that the Guardians turned and floated their way out of the hangar bay.

"Good luck." Salaak added, before he followed. the four looked back and forth between themselves and nodded, then made their way up the boarding ramp and onto the Interceptor.

"This should be quick." Kilowog said. "We'll be back in no time, long as Jordan doesn't get us stranded again."

"Hey, that happened one time!"

"Yeah, and we're still technically recovering from it!"

"Why am I even going? As a Red Lantern, the Guardians hold no authority over me, no matter what he thinks."

"Because you're officially part of the crew now, kid!"

Take-off didn't take long, as the crew was already well-versed in the workings and handling of the Interceptor, having spent the better part of 9 months aboard the ship. they settled into their accustomed seats and smoothly lifted off. Once they had made it off of Oa, the ultrawarp drive was activated and they settled for the relatively short trip thanks to the technology.

"So how goes reconstruction of the Forgotten Zone?" Hal asked, spinning his seat to face Razer. the Red Lantern answered without taking his eyes off the control panel before him.

"Slowly, but that is to be expected. We've successfully re-instated destroyed governments on at least three of the least effected planets and we're working on forming an interplanetary governing body with the help of the Star Sapphires and your Iolande of Betrassus. And thankfully some of our members are more versed in government than Zox. I shudder to think of what would happen if he was involved in the finer points of the negotiations."

"What about your planet, Razer?" Aya inquired. Razer stared at her for a moment, a look that Hal couldn't quite read.

"Oh yeah, we never did see your planet while we were out there, did we." Kilowog interrupted, then added, "Never really crossed my mind before but you're from the Forgotten Zone too." Razer let out a 'hmph' and crossed his arms, turning his chair finally to face the other three.

"My planet will have to wait. It's much deeper into the Forgotten Zone than any that we visited. Though there was talk of my leading a small force of Red Lanterns to attempt to overthrow the warlords sent there by Atrocitus and set up a base government to replace them." He grimaced. "But that was before I was grabbed to play bodyguard to the two most annoying individuals in the universe."

"We'll get you back to help your planet in no time after the mission." Hal replied. A small beeping interrupted any further conversation and they all turned back to their control panels.

"We've arrived." Razer reported from his station. Hal scanned his instruments, preparing to exit ultrawarp by flicking a few of the switches. Over at his station, Kilowog's hand hovered over a button, the last step to successful exit of the ultrawarp tunnel.

"Coming out of ultrawarp in 5…4…3…2…1…" at the end of the countdown, Hal pointed to Kilowog. the button was pressed and the rainbow tunnel of light around them slowed and faded smoothly until they found themselves back in regular space. Looming before them was a Border Planet 1546-S-1. From this close they could see that the small planet seemed fairly lush and green for an uninhabited planet, appearing covered with massive forests.

"Hey, looks pretty nice from up here," Kilowog said. "Let's get down there and investigate."

"Scanning for suitable landing site," Aya said, as Hal steered the ship to orbit the planet looking find some sort of break in the thick tree cover. Suddenly the ship's alarm blared. the crew jumped to attention and began searching for the cause.

"No projectiles detected!" Razer called above the blaring alarm.

"Nothing alive out there attacking either!" Kilowog yelled back.

"then what's happening?" Hal asked.

"Sensors indicate a sudden strong magnetic field," Aya reported. "It seems to be interfering with the engine components. We will have to land, and it will not be pleasant."

"I got this," Hal responded, reaching instinctively for the ship's steering controls. Razer and Kilowog immediately braced themselves. As Hal began to steer the Interceptor for a low-angle approach to the planet, the engines flickered and the ship dropped several feet. In the five seconds of drop, Razer and Kilowog suddenly went from bracing themselves to clinging desperately to their chairs, to avoid being thrown from them they would claim if asked.

"the affected engine components are becoming more unstable by the second, Lantern Jordan," Aya announced. "If we do not land soon, we will likely lose all power to the engines."

"Gotcha, land soon or we'll hit land soon, working on it," came the response. "Entering the atmosphere." And with a rumbling jerk the whole ship began to shake. Flames were visible along the exterior as the friction built from atmospheric entry. And then suddenly they were skimming along the surface of the planet, not far above tree-level.

"PULL UP! PULL UP!" Kilowog screamed as they skimmed the trees.

"SLOW DOWN! SLOW DOWN!" Razer cried at nearly the same time.

"WORKING! ON! IT!" Hal yelled, straining with the controls. the Interceptor shook, but gradually by gradually slowed. then engines flickered once more, and suddenly stopped completely. the ship lowered and began to skim the trees again, with Hal desperately trying to assert some sort of control, even without the engines, but the Interceptor had no ailerons or other external steering methods beyond those afforded by the green energy it ran on.

Bouncing off the tops of the trees repeatedly, the entire ship tipped forward and plowed nose-first into the jungles of Border Planet 1546-S-1.


	2. Chapter 2

~~~~Chapter 2~~~~

"Okay, this sort of thing is happening far too often for my liking," Kilowog grunted. Currently all four crew members of the Interceptor were suspended midair in the center of the ship's bridge, surrounded by the emergency construct shields they had instinctively thrown up in the midst of the crash; three green and one red.

"For once, agreed," Razer added in a slightly strangled sounding voice.

"Everyone okay?" Hal asked, removing his shield and dropping to the ground. One by one the others removed their shields and dropped to the floor as well.

"I am unharmed," came Aya's answer.

"I'll survive," Razer grumbled.

"Ha, like a little bumpy landing could hurt me," Kilowog laughed. He hit a button on one of the control panels and the exit ramp descended. Cautiously the drill sergeant made his way down and peeked outside, as Aya moved to the controls and began pulling up data charts and scan analyses on the main screen of the bridge.

"Any word on what it was that caused the crash?" Hal inquired. Aya scanned the information in front of her, projected in midair by the holographic tech on the console.

"It seems that the magnetic field that caused the malfunction in the engines originates from…" Here she moved, crossing over to the front window of the Interceptor, and pointed at a large object in the sky above the planet.

"…this planet's lunar satellite."

"It's moon?" Razer asked incredulously.

"Yes," Aya replied curtly. "There is an abnormally large magnetic field emanating from this planet's moon."

"How come it didn't mess with the engines immediately when we dropped out of ultrawarp?" Hal asked.

"I believe it was because of its position in relation to the planet," Aya replied, pulling up a small holographic model of the planet and its moon on the screen. "Allow me to demonstrate." the miniature moon was surrounded by a yellow indicator of the magnetic field surrounding it. From one direction, a tiny version of the Interceptor flew into view and proceeded around the planet model.

"When we first approached the planet, the moon was on the opposite side. But, as we circled to find a suitable landing area, the moon moved out from behind the planet and its magnetic field was able to interact with the ship. I believe there may be some sort of mineral deposit making up the majority of the planet that masks or blocks the magnetic field of its moon."

"So as long as that moon is visible in the sky, we are stuck on this planet," Razer stated flatly.

"Yes," Aya said. "But at the rate the planet is rotating and the moon is orbiting, we should be able to leave in approximately 9…" She paused to calculate as accurately as possible.

"Please don't say months. Please don't say months. Please don't say months." Hal muttered to himself, clenching his fists tightly.

"…hours." Aya finished with the slightest of amused smiles.

"YES!" Hal cheered, pumping his fists into the air. He plunked down heavily into one of the seats and spun it around. While he celebrated, Razer contemplated.

"Could that mineral be causing the inconclusive scans we were sent to investigate?" the Red Lantern asked.

"It is possible," Aya said.

"Well then we should use our 'down time' to investigate."

"First let's get the lay of the land," Hal said, standing from his chair. "Hey, Kilowog! How's it looking out there?" There was no answer from the direction of the exit ramp.

"Sergeant Kilowog?" Aya called. Still no answer. The three exchanged a look and descended the ramp. Outside the ship was all thick jungle and swampy ground. Wildlife of varying kinds could be heard all around, rustling the leaves and calling from the trees and bushes. The sky was barely visible through the trees except in small patches here and there, and of course the gouge carved by the crashing Interceptor.

"Kilowog?" Hal yelled into the foliage. The entire jungle went quiet. There was still no answer from Kilowog.

"I…don't like this," Razer muttered. Hal scanned the forest one last time before turning to the remaining two.

"Okay, obviously something has happened to Kilowog," he began. "We need to find him and investigate this planet. But we can't leave the ship alone here. So, Razer, stay here and watch the ship."

"What? Why?" Razer bristled.

"Relax, it's nothing against you. Aya is the only one who can reliably track down a ring signal. And, like I said, we can't leave the ship unattended. That never ends well." Razer relaxed, accepting the explanation, though his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Very well. While I'm here I'll check the engine components to make sure there is no lasting damage."

"Great idea! And if we aren't back in 9 hours…you know…come find us." With that, Hal and Aya took off in flight, weaving their way through the tree trunks, and, with a large sigh, Razer made his way back into the Interceptor.

Almost half-an-hour later, Hal and Aya were hovering in a small clearing in the jungle. Their search had thus far proven difficult.

"Are you getting a fix on his ring?" Hal asked.

"I have located his ring, but something is wrong," Aya answered, somewhat hesitantly. She was confused about something.

"Wrong? Wrong how?" Hal was slightly worried. What exactly had happened to Kilowog?

"It is moving away from us rather quickly, but…"

"But…?"

"I don't believe he is wearing it."

"What? Why wouldn't he be wearing his ring?" None of the answers to that question were good ones.

"Perhaps…we should hurry to its location."

"Yeah." The two shot off into the forest once more, Aya leading the way in the direction her readings were pointing.

An hour-and-a-half later, Razer crawled out of one of the maintenance sections of the Interceptor, finally finished checking the engines from top to bottom. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but he had checked every minor detail just in case. He wasn't about to die during take-off just because a single bolt or seam had been weakened by a hairline crack. Considering all he'd lived through and all he'd done in his life, that would be terribly anti-climactic.

Returning to the main common room of the ship he checked quickly to make sure his ring was still in the stasis pod he'd locked it in. He'd had to remove it before making repairs because let's be realistic, there was no way in Grotz's name that he'd be able to maneuver correctly in those maintenance spaces with the pointy menace that was his Red Lantern uniform. But the small ring was where he'd left it, and he moved on to the washroom of the ship to at least try to remove some of the grease and dust he'd become covered in.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Yes, Hal Jordan, I am."

Half-an-hour later, Aya and Hal sat cautiously in small opening in the ground, a ceiling entrance to an underground cavern. Below them, about halfway down, a shiny black mineral of some sort began to jut out of the walls. Even farther below was a camp, small and hasty and scraggly, with a matching crew of haggard looking aliens of all kinds working their way around, mining and processing the mineral.

"I don't suppose this little mining venture of theirs is legal, is it Aya?"

"Highly doubtful, as several of them are wanted for illegal strip-mining of asteroids and planets marked as to-be-colonized."

"And that over there?" Hal gestured to a small area set back into a recess in the cave half-hidden from the view of the camp. From their elevated view the two could see a familiar figure pacing back and forth in a makeshift brig, seemingly fashioned from the same mineral that was being mined.

"That appears to be Sergeant Kilowog."

"Thought so. Looks like we'll have to pull a rescue, shut down an illegal mining operation, and bring back some samples of this weird ro-ccckkgggggzt!" Suddenly an electric shock sparked through Hal's body, and Aya's next to him causing her eyes and construct skin to flicker briefly. Both seized, then went limp, sliding to the ground bonelessly. Behind them a pair of alien figures stepped out of the shadows.

"Huh, idiots," spoke one, that had the general appearance of a human-sized bat, albeit with a few alien traits, like the arc of seven eyes across its face and a second pair of clawed arms from its chest. "Didn't they even think that talking up here would be amplified by the cave?" One of his enormous, shell-like ears twitched and he tossed a small, sparking prod back and forth between his two chest arms.

"Still," spoke his companion, relatively humanoid from the waist up, but with an enormous serpentine tail instead of legs. "Over the mining noises, only you would really have been able to hear it, Desmod. Good work." He slithered over to Hal and grabbed his wrist, removing the Green Lantern ring.

"Thank you, boss," the bat-creature all but purred. The snake slithered over to the still form of Aya, grabbing her wrists and examining her carefully.

"Hmm, no ring on this one," he hissed, "odd. But never mind. Get these two to the brig with the other one. We'll take care of their ship next shift. They've got to have one to come out this far."

"Yes sir, Rallus." Desmod took the two unconscious forms in his extra pair of arms and leapt down into the hole they had been spying through, spreading his wings once inside and gliding his way over towards the cell that held Kilowog.

Back on the edge of the opening, Rallus smirked. Carefully he slipped Hal's ring onto one finger, next to another, larger, match to it.

"Green Lanterns all the way out here, huh? Thisssss should be interessssssting."


	3. Chapter 3

~~~~~Chapter 3~~~~~~

Hal felt like he was floating. There was no up, there was no down. It was relaxing. Everything was dark, everything was silent.

"Hey…"

Well, almost everything was silent. There was a voice. It seemed vaguely familiar, but Hal's mind felt as much like it was floating as his body did. He couldn't quite place it.

"Hey."

The voice was getting louder. And more obnoxious. The darkness around Hal was slowly brightening, now a middle sort of grey instead of the pitch-black it had been a few seconds ago. The relaxing floating feeling was going away, and Hal grimaced.

"HEY!"

With a sudden enormous flinch, Hal's eyes flew open and then were squeezed shut as a bright light invaded his vision.

"Welcome back to the world of the conscious." It was the same voice as before, only now he could identify it. Sure enough, when Hal opened his eyes again, blinking to adjust, he was looking at Kilowog.

"Urrrgh." Hal was, perhaps, not as eloquent as he meant to be. He struggled to sit up from his place laying on the floor, but his muscles were all cramped and painful.

"Do not strain yourself, Lantern Hal," he could hear Aya say, and she soon walked into his line of sight. "Your muscular system is still being affected by the electric weapon they used to over-take us."

"How can I still understand Kilowog?" Hal inquired, relaxing back onto the floor.

"Since I am powered by the same Green Lantern power battery that powers the Interceptor, I am able to run a similar universal translator program as the rings. There will be a slight time delay in the translation, but it will only be a few nanoseconds."

"Handy," Hal said, finally sitting up with help from Kilowog. "So they snuck up on us? How?" Aya looked down.

"I…I only performed a general location scan for Sergeant Kilowog's ring energy," she explained, "It gives a broad location, a little less than a square mile, in which the ring can be found. It is more effective for tracking a moving ring, as we were. If I had pinpointed the ring exactly I would have been able to sense them moving behind us, but it would have taken longer for us to find this cavern in the first place as I would have had to continually recalibrate the scans."

"That's fine, Aya," Hal replied, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But now we have to figure a way out of this."

"Good luck," Kilowog grunted. "I've been trying to break the bars for the past however long it's been. This rock is weird, Jordan. Every time I get so much as a chip off of one, it grows back over itself."

"This mineral is strange," Aya admitted. "I do not believe I have data on anything like it." They fell quiet for a while, each contemplating the position they found themselves in.

"Aya, can you contact the Interceptor?" Hal spoke up finally.

"Yes, but the signal may be interrupted slightly by the cavern."

"Good. We'll see if we can break a bar, but if that doesn't work in the next…oh, half an hour, then we can call in the ace up our sleeves."

"What is taking them so long?" Razer had long since finished cleaning up and was back wearing his ring and uniform, lounging at the table in the main common room.

"It can't possibly take this long to find that big oaf." He sighed deeply, immensely bored. Then he stood suddenly and began walking briskly towards the bridge of the ship. Anxiously, the Red Lantern moved to the main window and scanned the jungle outside, searching for any sign that his fellow crewmembers were returning. This entire planet set him on edge and he did not like it. There was something that was just…_off_ about it. Initially he had put it up frayed nerves from the less than stellar welcome that had been their crash landing. But now he was sure it was something about the planet itself.

"Int…zer…o…py…?" A crackling signal coming through the ship's instruments startled him a bit; he had been too intent focusing on the jungles outside. Quickly he moved to the panel and adjusted a few settings.

"This is the Interceptor, say again," he spoke into the communications array. "Repeat, I cannot hear you."

"Razer…" this time he could identify Aya's voice amongst the static, but it sounded like she was whispering.

"Aya, what's going on?"

"We…run int…some illegal…ining…" Razer continued to adjust the settings, trying to strengthen the signal as best he could. "Repeat…we have run into an illegal mining operation and were ambushed. Lanterns Hal and Kilowog have had their rings taken."

"Copy. Where are you located?"

"We are being held…a large cell built within a natural cavern. Transmitting approximate coordin…s now." A map of the planet opened and the location of the Interceptor was marked by a small green pinpoint. The map rotated back and forth a few times before settling on a small point in the jungle a fair distance from the ship. Razer removed a small circular device from the console and turned it on, producing a small copy of the same map.

"I'm on my way."

"Razer…areful. They are planning to…id the Interceptor in a few hours." Despite the static, Razer could guess quite easily what was being planned by these illegal miners.

"I understand," he responded, "I'll leave them a _welcome present_ or two in case we aren't fast enough to return."

"AUGH, what even is this stuff!" Kilowog growled from where he was still trying to break the stone bars. They were thick, each almost the same size around as his arm, and they were rooted well to the floor and ceiling of the cavern recess. Not to mention that every time even the slightest hint of damage was done to them, the strange black mineral would repair itself.

"What I want to know is how they're even mining it!" Hal said, exasperated.

"That would be thanks to me." The three turned to the entrance to their cell. Slithering forward, rough stomach scales rasping against the cavern floor, came Rallus.

"And who, exactly, would you be?" Hal asked. "And why are you wearing our rings?" The other two in the cell immediately snapped their gaze to the two matching rings on the snake-creature's hand. Rallus lifted his hand and regarded the rings with an almost loving glance.

"I am Rallus, foreman of this little mining outfit," he answered with a sneer. "And these are my rings now, Green Lanterns. They will remain that way."

"You better watch yourself, scales," Kilowog growled. "When we get out of here-" But his threat was cut off by a horrible gurgling laugh from Rallus.

"_When_ you get out? That's laughable! There's not even an '_if_' you get out, Bolovaxian." Rallus grinned, wider than he should have been able, showing off needle-like teeth and a pair of hinged over-sized fangs. With a deep breath, Rallus turned to face a wall covered in the black mineral. There was a hiss and two streams of toxic-green spat from holes in his fangs. Where it impacted the wall sizzled and burned, the liquid eating its way quickly into the wall, which did not repair itself.

"My venom is more than enough to eat through this rock," the snake-creature said, turning back to his captives. "We use it as a part of the mining process. And, we all wield weapons that utilize its properties as well. You'll become plenty acquainted with them once this shift is over." He turned around and slithered away, pointing to the workers he had come by with, clearly assigning them as guards in front of the entrance to the recess the cell was located in.

"I hate it when villains gloat," Hal intoned dryly.

"The kid better get here soon," Kilowog muttered. "I don't want to find out what he was planning when he said we'd 'become plenty acquainted' with that acid of his."

"Razer will arrive soon," Aya said, sounding very sure.

She was, as it turns out, exactly right.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" Hal piped up, about 15 minutes after Rallus left. The other two looked up and listened. There was a soft rustling sound and the slightest noise of rocks shifting.

"Where is it coming from?" Kilowog asked. The noise continued to grow louder, and became interspersed with what sounded vaguely like muffled curses.

"I believe it is coming from there," Aya said, pointing to a large crack in the wall just outside their cell.

"That leads to the outside?" Kilowog asked, looking to the others. Hal shrugged.

"Yes," said a muffled voice from just inside the fissure. "It does. OOF!" Razer finally emerged, tripping forward a little with the forward force he had been pushing himself through with.

"Why were you crawling around in there?" It was Hal's turn to ask questions.

"All of the other entrances are guarded, heavily," Razer answered, straightening up and moving over to examine the bars. "And each of those guards is armed to the teeth."

"And…why are you in your civilian clothes?" came Hal's next question. Razer looked down to his clothes, then back up at Hal with the blank look of someone who is trying not to look incredibly embarrassed.

"My armor kept getting caught on things when I tried to make my way through possibly the thickest jungle ever to exist," he admitted. "I am not used to navigating jungles."

"Why didn't you fly _over_ the jungle?"

"I did until I came close to this cavern. Then I decided that perhaps stealth was the better option. Judging by the guards, I'd say was right." He shot Hal an exasperated look. "Now are you going to interrogate me further, or should I focus on getting you out of here."

"We very much appreciate your assistance, Razer," Aya said. Razer glanced at her and then away, moving a few feet away from the bars.

"Stand back," he said, aiming his ring at the bars.

"Razer, no!" the imprisoned three cried, but it was too late. With a flash of red, he was not only in his uniform again, but a bolt of red energy was flying towards the bars. The three in the cell threw themselves onto the ground. Razer wondered what they were doing, but soon it became painfully obvious. Upon hitting the mysterious black mineral, the bolt of red energy was reflected and refracted, splitting into multiple smaller bolts and ricocheting through the cavern recess. He had a lovely split second of blind panic before instinct also sent him ducking to the ground just in time to avoid being hit by at least three of his reflected shots from various directions. Soon the ricocheting bolts dissipated or hit plain dirt or rock as opposed to the black mineral.

"WHAT," Razer snarled, then took a deep breath and composed himself a bit. "What was that?"

"We should have warned you about that sooner," Kilowog admitted, pushing himself off the floor.

"I attempted escape via the same method earlier," Aya said. "We soon discovered that constructs that touch this mineral are reflected and refracted. Any constructs, including shields."

"Well then how, exactly, do you expect me to get you out!" A chorus of confused yells echoed back through the tunnels. It seems the light show had alerted the guards and miners that something was going on.

"Acidic substances seem to affect the mineral in a more effective manner than constructs and or energy," Aya supplied helpfully.

"A-acid?" Hal's ears must have been mistaken, because he could have sworn he heard Razer stammer.

"Yes," Aya replied. "The foreman, Rallus, employs acidic venom." She gestured to the hole Rallus had burned into the wall earlier. Razer grimaced.

"I see," the Red Lantern muttered. "I have…an idea. Stand over there and well back from the bars and turn around." The three moved obediently to the side as far as they could, but only Aya turned around fully.

"Why are you not turning around?" she inquired of the Lanterns next to her.

"I want to see what he's up to," Hal answered and Kilowog nodded in agreement. Razer had noticed their gaze and was hesitating slightly. The sound of approaching guards was getting louder by the second.

"Hurry up, kid," Kilowog said. Razer clenched his jaw and glared daggers at the drill sergeant.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."


	4. Chapter 4

~~~~~Chapter 4~~~~~

They quickly regretted their decision.

Hal, Kilowog, and Aya had seen Razer use the strange breath-based energy blast, that seemed to be unique to the Red Lanterns, before.

This was far worse.

Razer's ring began to glow. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. As he released it, a disgusting gurgling noise sounded from his throat towards the end of the breath. He opened his eyes again and they began to glow, the odd fire-like red aura flickering around them like it did when he was in the middle of a fight. All of the sudden Razer reared back, taking in as deep of a breath as he could, all the while a horrible choking sound emanating from deep in his throat. This time as he released the breath, coupled with a powerful step forward, it was joined by the same gurgling noise.

And a massive gush of blood.

Hal and Kilowog recoiled in horror as their Red Lantern companion expelled far more blood than was probably possible, let alone healthy. They recoiled even farther when said blood, upon contact with the black mineral, began steaming and then burst into flame, eating away at the stone bars even faster than Rallus' venom had. The bars fell away and dissolved into goo in a gouge the blood had eaten into the floor.

Razer himself collapsed to his knees, coughing and gasping for breath, as the last dribble of expelled blood dripped from his chin.

The sound of approaching miners and guards were so loud that they would be turning the corner into the cell recess in seconds.

Hal and Kilowog stood stock still, watching as Razer gasped for breath.

"I…told…you…" Razer rasped, eyes fixed decidedly on the floor, voice sounding vaguely like his throat had been rubbed down by sandpaper. The first to move was Aya, who ran past the other two, stepping neatly over and around the still steaming acid-holes in the floor, and helping Razer back to his feet. This snapped the other two part-way out of their shock, and they made their way over as well, all of them falling into fighting positions as the first of the miners rounded the corner.

"Wh-," Kilowog began, but his ability to speak seemed to have abandoned him. Instead, Hal gave it a try.

"What…?" Oh well, he'd made a valiant effort.

"The rings can tap directly into our circulatory systems," Razer explained quietly, spitting a last glob of blood off to the side, where it sizzled lightly into the floor. "We can use it like _that_. Or it can run the circulatory system of its wielder should anything happen to damage the original structure."

"I-Isn't that dangerous?" Finally Kilowog managed a coherent sentence.

"Oh yes," Razer stated, in a very dark, but matter-of-fact, tone. "Very." The first wave of miners reached them and the fight began.

Aya spun neatly and delivered a kick into the chest of a muscular but top-heavy horned alien, knocking the wind out of him and over-balancing him into at least two others in the crowd that were rushing forward too close behind. Razer sidestepped around her, and landed a solid punch onto the jaw of another that was trying to slip through the opening cause by Aya's kick. Kilowog rushed forward and met head to head and hand to hand with a massive brute of an alien; locking fingers and solidifying his stance, Kilowog whirled around and threw his opponent into the wall. Hal ran forward, dropping to the floor in an impressive baseball slide to make it under the legs of one of the aliens, jumping back to his feet on the other side of the confused creature and stealing a heavy mining tool off of its back. With a hefty whack, the alien went down like a ton of bricks.

Through the chaos of the fight, Kilowog noticed Rallus lunging forward into the fight. He grit his teeth with determination and lowered his shoulder, rushing forward and knocking anyone who got in his way aside like they were nothing. In no time he'd reached the serpentine alien. Rallus, coiled and ready for a strike at a preoccupied Razer, found himself caught mid-strike by a very angry Kilowog grabbing his snake-like tail and whipping him around hard into a wall.

"I warned you about what would happen _when_ we got out of that cell," Kilowog growled. Rallus's eyes widened momentarily before they narrowed again and Kilowog found himself being constricted by the scaled tail.

"Very well," Ralluz hissed menacingly, shoving Kilowog away with his surprisingly muscular tail. "Have it your way, Bolovaxian!" He lunged forward.

Meanwhile, the miners were starting to use the venom-enhanced weapons that Rallus had mentioned earlier. Dodging swipes from an acid-saw, Razer found himself back-to-back with Aya, who was in a similar predicament. They ducked in, Razer slashing away with a construct sword to keep the two opponents at bay. Aya surrounded them with a construct shield to block their assailants' blows but to the Red Lantern's horror, the acid-saw sliced through the green construct easily. The Red Lantern kicked out through a gap in the shield, knocking back his opponent, and then whirled around and pulled Aya away seconds before her opponent brought its acid-saw down through her half of the shield. Hal jumped back to join them, dodging a swipe from his current opponent.

"Constructs do not seem to stop the venom," Aya warned.

"Thanks for the heads-up!" Hal responded, while leg-sweeping a spindly-legged spider alien and stealing its acid-saw.

Suddenly, Kilowog went flying by, crashing heavily into the wall of the cavern. The remaining three fell back to surround their fallen companion. While Razer and Aya held off the oncoming miners, Hal turned to check on Kilowog. There was an echoing shriek and a loud thud, as Desmod the bat alien dropped out of the air to land behind Hal. Hal turned to shield himself, but as Desmod raised one powerful winged arm there was a flash of green. Desmod was knocked back with a powerful green energy blast to the chest, and small bits of the blast ricocheted off the black mineral in the walls, some luckily managing to take out a few of the advancing miners. Hal turned back to see Kilowog, back in Green Lantern uniform, grinning. The drill sergeant opened one huge fist to reveal Hal's own ring, which Hal took gladly, donning his uniform once more.

An angry hissing shriek echoed through the cavern. The four turned to see Rallus racing towards them at surprising speed, the arm he had been wearing the rings on trailing brokenly at his side, his facial expression absolutely feral. He lunged and the Green Lanterns automatically constructed shields. In mid-air, Rallus spat several streams of venom ahead of him. Taking a deep breath, Razer stepped forward.

"Shields down!" he roared, and then took another deep breath, his eyes and ring glowing brightly. The other three complied and, as the shields fell, a familiar gurgling, choking noise rang out. Kilowog pushed Hal and Aya to the side and behind him, and Razer unleashed another veritable torrent of blood, which engulfed the gobs of venom and continued past. Rallus raised his single working arm to try to shield himself, but it was no use.

Razer dropped to his knees again, hacking up the last of the blood and gasping for air. The flame-like aura around his eyes flickered and faded. There was an agonizing throbbing in his chest, and his throat burned painfully. He barely managed to lift his gaze to check on the three behind him before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed into unconsciousness.

Razer awoke sometime later, a fuzzy grey static falling slowly away from his mind as he gradually regained his sense of his surroundings. He was laying on one of the med-tables in the common room of the Interceptor. His chest ached and his veins felt like they were burning. The horrible stench and taste of blood was still there in his mouth and nose.

"I am glad you have regained consciousness." Aya, of course. Razer didn't even bother to move to try to see her.

"How long was I unconscious?" he asked, now-raspy voice barely audible. Aya, instead, moved into his line of sight.

"For approximately 5.15 hours," she responded exactly. "We left the planet not long ago, after sending a request to the Green Lanterns of this and two adjacent sectors for help capturing and holding the remaining miners."

"What about-"

"We warned them about the moon." Razer nodded and began struggling to sit up. Aya moved to his side and helped him up.

"You're going to the bridge?" she inquired, even though they both knew it was more a statement than a question. Instead of answering, Razer merely swung his legs off of the table and stood up. The burning in his chest flared up and his legs buckled. Aya caught him and helped him sit back down on the med-table. The door from the bridge opened with a loud 'woosh'.

"Should you be up so soon?" Hal asked as he and Kilowog entered. The two plunked down at the dining table, facing Razer and Aya.

"I'm fine," Razer answered, the gravelly whisper that was his voice at the moment giving away the total lie that the statement was.

"Uh, no," Kilowog interjected. "I'm pretty sure you just coughed up more than twice your body supply of blood back there. Not just that, but blood that melts solid rock and catches fire. Something tells me, that ain't healthy."

"I'll recover," Razer shot back, then fell into a coughing fit. Kilowog and Hal exchanged looks: worried, uncomfortable, uncertain. Once Razer's coughing subsided, they spoke up again.

"Kid," Kilowog began, "you saved our behinds back there, no doubt about it. Do us a favor though?" Razer looked up, unsure and tired. It struck Hal how much younger Razer was than he and Kilowog. He was a powerful fighter and a competent soldier, but their referring to him as 'kid' was more than just a nickname dictated by experience versus lack thereof. Compared to them he really was just a kid. Hal looked over to Kilowog, who it seemed had been caught by the same thought. Hal sighed and got up. As he made his way over, Razer's eyes followed him with a vague sense of caution. He stopped right in front of the seated Red Lantern.

"Do us all a favor, Razer," Hal said, voice unmistakably serious. "Give yourself time to recover from this. The moment we get back to Oa we're carting you to the Medical Dome and you will stay off-duty for as long as the doctor says it'll take you to recover." Razer let out a snort.

"I'm serious," Hal replied, and with a smirk he added, "I'll put you under Kilowog and Aya's watch if it takes that to keep you from straining yourself." Razer made a small wheezing noise that Hal strongly suspected was an attempt at laughter.

"And don't do that blood thing again," Kilowog added in. "I don't know if my stomach can take it."

"If it were up to me," Razer said, completely serious, "I would never use it again."


End file.
